Jo lives in a small town in southern Japan. She lives with her two children and Japanese husband and is learning more everyday about the world of Japanese agriculture and culture.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Service

The number of blog entries in the near future will be determined by how many photos of one of my nieces I receive. I've made a deal - a blog entry for each photo I receive - a pretty good deal I think - especially if the photos are as cute as the one I got today!! It may motivate me to catch up on a few entries that I have meant to post and never got around to.....

One of the questions I am often asked is what I really like about Japan and my usual answer is "the service". You pull into a petrol station (aka gasoline stand) and there are usually a couple of people who rush out to help you, wash your windows while the fuel is going in, give you a cloth to wipe the inside of your car, remove all your rubbish, pump up your tyres, stop the traffic so you can get back onto the road safely etc. etc.

Shops are also wonderful for service (of course there will be exceptions, but...). They seem to go out of their way to ensure that you get what you need and of course it is always beautifully wrapped (even if they take half an hour to make sure it is that way...). And one of my favorites... plastic bags over paper bags to ensure that your purchases get home safely on a rainy day. Not exactly environmentally friendly, but very thoughtful. Mind you I got this particularly bag when I was shopping with my mother and as she noted, it did seem to depend on the price of your purchase as to how much service you received - hers had no plastic in sight!